"Hey why does an old man like you bother an 8-year-old girl?" asked Clover mocking Yamamoto who at this comment decided to ignore him, *I'm not an old man* he thought with some annoyance.
Although he had the body of an old man, in his previous life he was about to turn 20, but he didn't make it and incredibly ended up in the body of this old man with Yamamoto's Bleach template and a system.
Yamamoto got up from his seat and walked over to the girl's bed, "Tell me, girl, what is your name?" he asked in a serious tone, even though his mental age was not that of an old man, everyone here thought he was one and also very powerful and intelligent, so he had to act like one.
"M-my name is Apis..." answered the girl after she finished crying and separated from Olvia.
*It doesn't ring a bell...* thought Yamamoto trying to remember if this girl appeared in the series.
"Why was a girl like you on a boat alone and with such wounds?" asked Yamamoto continuing the interrogation, since he didn't remember who she was.
"E-eh..." Apis was a little hesitant to answer so she started looking at the ground and rolling her eyes. Noticing this Olvia said calming her down, "Don't worry, we won't hurt you we just want to help you"
Trusting Olvia who took care of her and his friend Milo answered, "Well... some marines captured me because they think I know something about what they are looking for, luckily I was able to escape from their ship by stealing a boat, but Milo saved me from being hit by several bullets" Apis told with some tears in her eyes, how she ended up in those conditions.
"Marines...? Those bastards doing such a thing to a girl" Clover said angrily having less and less respect for the navy, everyone else in the room had the same opinions.
*A girl only with the help of a bird could escape from a marine ship? How useless...* thought Yamamoto with some disdain towards these marines, after all, this was one of the weaker seas.
"Luckily you and Milo are fine" said Olvia with a smile while wiping the tears in Apis' eyes who at this smiled warmly, *Damn even children fall before her...* thought Yamamoto having more respect towards Olvia.
"Which island do you belong to?" asked Yamamoto guessing Apis' home island.
"Mm... my grandfather calls our island the Millennium Island" answered Apis while remembering his grandfather's stories.
"Is that island shaped like a ship or a boat?" asked Yamamoto again wanting to confirm his doubts.
"Eh... I guess so" answered Apis while trying to remember the image of his island, *How I guessed* thought Yamamoto.
"Your home island, it's the same one we're headed to" said Olvia with some surprise at the coincidence.
"What seriously!? That's good!" said Apis with a smile, she had already fallen for Olvia's motherly charms, *She woke up 5 minutes ago and we already have her confidence...* thought Yamamoto with his eyes rolling.
"Yes it's good... but how do you get to the island? I understand that there is a fog that surrounds the whole island" asked Yamamoto with some hope that this girl a way through the fog, since it was her home island.
"It's easy, I just have to be guided by Milo... well now that he is injured it will be difficult, but also this Dama I just have to call her and I will guide you easily through the fog" Apis replied boasting that such a task was no big deal.
"How will you be guided by a bird?" asked Clover with a raised eyebrow.
"Hmph in case you didn't know, I have a superpower that allows me to talk to animals, I just have to ask Dama to guide me through the sky and it won't be hard to get to the island" replied Apis proudly for having a superpower, even though it was a devil fruit.
*So she has a devil fruit that allows her to communicate with animals, how convenient* thought Yamamoto, although it was not a powerful fruit, it was very useful for several things.
"Oh that superpower you have is amazing it will help us get to the island" Said Olvia playing along with Apis.
"Yeah, I'm awesome right?" said Apis with a smile wanting to be praised by Olvia.
"You're not the only one who has power, look at this" Robin said as she concentrated and summoned a small hand on the bed where Apis was.
Yamamoto seeing this, remembered that Robin from this age, possessed the Hana Hana fruit, which allowed her to sprout parts of her body anywhere, truly a characteristic power and one she had seen many times in the anime. He was also a bit surprised, at how quickly he returned to the room to defend what is his.
"What!" Apis exclaimed as she gave a small jump from the bed, startled by the sudden appearance of the hand, something she was not expecting, "You see? This is my superpower!" said Robin.
"Amazing! You have a power like me, if you want we can be friends" said Apis with a smile. Robin was surprised because she didn't expect such a response from Apis and didn't know what to answer.
Robin suffered bullying for most of her childhood, from the Ohara children who called her a monster for her strange ability, upsetting even the adults who saved the archaeologists, so she expected Apis to react the same way with disgust and rejection.
Yamamoto watched this with a slight smile, as he had a faint memory from Robin's childhood that he didn't have any friends, so he was happy that Apis is not like the others and is a good person. He left the room and went to the deck of the ship to tell what happened here to Saul who was not aware of anything.
Clover and the other archaeologists in the room also had smiles on their faces, as they were the ones who knew the most about all that Robin had suffered from the Ohara villagers and children, being very happy that she can have her first friend. Olvia understood the least, as she still did not know all that her daughter had suffered.
...
West Blue, near the Calm Belt a ship with the navy flag could be seen sailing at a slow pace because of the few air currents.
"You useless bastards! How can you let a weak little girl escape!" exclaimed an extremely obese man who was sitting in an oversized chair angrily.
This obese man was Nelson Royale the commander of the 80th Marine division in West Blue and the person who had ordered Apis' capture. All the Marines ducked their heads in fear and sweat that Nelson would reprimand them or worse beat them up.
They hated that this fat and useless guy who couldn't even move is the commander and they had to follow his orders all because he has connections within the Marine that gave him this position.
*Tsch what useless underlings. Luckily with father's money, he can hire this big-name mercenary* Nelson thought calmly as he looked at a man who was not in navy uniform.
"Hey Eric, now there's nothing left but to go to that brat's island, you better know how to get through that fog fast" Nelson said to this man named Eric.
"Don't worry, I have a way to get through the fog and be able to get to the island without much trouble" replied Eric in a calm tone.
Eric, nicknamed the Whirlwind was a mercenary that Nelson hired for a large sum of money to accomplish his mysterious objective. He was a tall, thin man. His nails were very long and his hair was lilac colored with a very peculiar hairstyle, he had it in the shape of a spiral ending in a spike. He wore yellow earrings and sunglasses. His outfit was a gray suit with white striped sleeves and a red one.
"Alright come on make the damn boat go faster! And you bring me my food" ordered Nelson pointing to a marine.
The Marine quickly went to the ship's galley to bring the food to Nelson, the other Marines looked at each other without knowing what to do, since the speed of the ship was due to the few air currents due to being close to the Calm Belt.
...
Yamamoto told everything to Saul, who upon hearing Apis' story became even angrier because of the corruption in the navy, who even went so far as to chase and kidnap a little girl for a reason unrelated to their duties.
Yamamoto decided not to ask Apis why she was being chased, as it seemed that she did not want to tell him, sooner or later he would find out since he would most likely meet these marines.
After an hour, they saw the fog so they called Apis to guide them so they could reach the island without deviating on the way since this fog covered a large part of the ocean.
Apis asked Milo through his devil fruit to call Dama, his other bird friend, he obeyed and made a strange loud screeching sound, after a few minutes to the surprise of many, Dama arrived.
Apis again took the opportunity to show off her superpower, she finally asked Dama to guide them through the air so they could reach the island, and with the directions, Apis was giving they were able to finally reach the island in only 20 minutes.
They arrived at a port that was in very bad condition, but it was still of some use, "Finally we arrived...* thought Yamamoto as he looked at the large island.